As a follow up to my mild frustration with the distribution limitations of General Conference, here is an available clip from Elder Holland’s address on the atonement. For my part, I don’t care much for the addition of music or even the images necessarily. I don’t think it enhances the message, which is pure and powerful on its own. That said, we all respond to media differently, and the words still inspire.
Happy Easter.
Tonight I helped set up Mark Mabry’s Reflections on Christ exhibit that begins its tour in Manhattan.
I love the images. Equally powerful, I think, are the stories of the people who participated in the photos. I had read a few on Mabry’s blog last year and was surprised tonight to find out that there are no words accompanying the pictures. They are quite compelling, but some of the testimonies like this one about John the Baptist make the photos even more meaningful (go read that, I’ll wait).
This is apparently the first time in the tour that the official crew was not handling the installation. We got to decide where to place the artwork, which, due to spatial limitations, was sometimes not in the same order as the original sequence. I have no curation experience, but it was interesting to see how a slight variation in the arrangement influenced my reaction to the story.
At any rate, if you are in NYC, come check it out.
Exhibit hours are available here.
I was so excited this weekend to see the LDS Church had rolled out a fancy streaming video player. General Conference comes around every six months, and this time the talks were available for playback almost immediately following each session. It’s a huge step forward. Maybe by October we’ll be able to embed, share, or at least directly link to the videos?
My favorite talks this conference were:
I have this quote I’ve been carrying around me since Freshman year of College. It has been kept in boxes, taped to binders, and now it is going up on my blog so I can finally get rid of the paper.
Let us train up our minds until we delight in that which is good, lovely and holy, seeking continually after that intelligence which will enable us effectively to build up Zion,…seeking to do the will of the Lord all the days of our lives, improving our minds in all scientific and mechanical knowledge, seeking diligently to understand the great design and plan of all created things, that we may know what to do with our lives and how to improve upon the facilities placed within our reach.
- Brigham Young
On Ellis Island, Ladd introduced me to his theory that “the Plan is not about efficiency.” Preparedness, resource management, storage, savings, all the principles leading us to more efficient living–these are not the goal. No matter how efficient we are, every day requires preparation and replenishment. We eat living food, our bodies return to a state of rest, we have no option to “set and forget” our own maintenance. Every day we return to living sources.
He mentioned again that we seek so much to streamline, improve, and optimize our lives, suggesting that perhaps the goal is to simply deal with the horribly inefficient scenarios placed before us, put up with all the crap, and learn to have a good attitude about it.
Wandering through visual representations of data and statistics, artifacts and photographs, strolling past stories of huddled masses yearning to be free, I thought about our pursuit of a better life and our efforts to change - rather than endure - difficult situations. Maybe the inefficiencies that serve as my stumbling blocks are actually reminders- types and shadows- of the importance of returning to living resources. Living food, living water, living scriptures, living Christ… all of these require regular remembrance, not a one-time stockpiling effort. The genius of an inefficient (yet highly effective) plan is the continuous opportunity to reevaluate, repent, and return.
I admit to being somewhat captivated by Tal Bachman’s over-the-top missionary experiences in last night’s PBS documentary “The Mormons.” I think his point about having been willing to do ANYTHING he was asked to on his mission, contrasted with his current belief that the “thing” presented is not real and therefore not worth it, is really the crux of most religious motivation. If “it” is true, it can justifiably require everything from us. If it was invented, then we have no obligation to be involved in it.
I wish this point were given more consideration throughout the documentary, particularly in regards to dissension and excommunication. Margaret Merrill Toscano, who disturbingly became the ‘voice’ of feminism and LDS women, expressed that she was excommunicated from a religion and community she loved because she tried to make her voice heard. I am sympathetic to many of the issues she raised; I think a lot of her perceptions are correct. But even if she is right, she is still wrong. Her decision to violate the covenant she made to be a follower of Christ is far more significant than which path it was that led her there.
The call to leave behind a personal agenda in order to more fully follow the Savior is not one that is uniquely issued to feminists or intellectuals.
Matthew 4: 18-22
- And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
- And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
- And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
- And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
- And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
Simon, Andrew, James and John were asked to leave their employment and their families to follow Christ, which they immediately did. They didn’t stop to argue about the merits of fishing or make that the basis of their decision to follow. They proved their loyalty to their Savior in their obedience.
What could make a person more Christian than being given the choice between self and Christ, and choosing Christ?
If someone doesn’t believe that Christ is who He says He is, then the decision to not leave everything to follow Him seems reasonable. If someone believes in Christ but doesn’t believe that He leads and directs the LDS church, then they would be right to not claim membership in it. But if someone believes in Christ, and that the church is governed by Him through His appointed leaders, then where is the argument for dissension?
Comments are open on this one. Feel free to share yours.
a few months ago i sent an email to a friend in response to an evening discussion through central park. i remembered it this weekend as i was preparing for a lesson on the atonement. thanks to the miracle of gmail search, i finally found it. hastily written, it candidly expresses a personal view that i doubt could be conveyed as honestly if i were to edit it. so here it is.
hi jen.
so this morning i was thinking about what you said sunday with regards to having peace but still clearly having “been there.” and i’ve re-decided that you can’t have that in your COUNTENANCE because the gospel is so healing, so capable of making us whole, that there are no visible scars we carry with us of what we have suffered.i think, though, that we can have the respect of “having been there” by our interactions with people. meaning, selfishly, that people won’t talk to us and walk away thinking “what an idiot. she’s never experienced anything. wait til she has a trial and then let’s see if she’s still so optimistic.” but better said, and i think the crux of why it is desirable to have people know we can relate to their struggles, it adds credibility to living the gospel.
i always think of D&C 122- The Son of Man hath descended below all things. Art thou greater than He? clearly, i am not. and knowing that Christ bore more than i am asked to bear makes living the gospel seem less convenient but more essential. faith is not unchallenged belief but the power to trust, be healed, and continue.
Christ kept the marks on his hands as a testament that He is who He said He was. No scriptures come to mind of Him taking the opportunity to say how much it hurt. I think, i hope, that the purpose of our pain, struggle (translation: EXPERIENCE) is so that we can better testify of Christ. That He is who He said He was. That He can and does heal us. Not so that anyone will look at us and immediately know what we’ve been through and what it took for us to get that testimony.
Once upon a time there was a young republican named Jared who was frequently concerned with social issues. One day he said to his friend Amy, “fat people cause global warming.” “I thought republicans caused global warming,” she replied. He sent her a link to a nyt article about obesity, For a World of Woes, We Blame Cookie Monsters.
“Research suggests that the stigma of being fat leads to more eating, not less. And if reducing the stigma suggests a solution, that’s not working either,” declared the article. “So should people just not know they are obese?” Amy asked. “Well,” he said, “we should change the definition so that fewer people fall in the category.”
Amy was a big fan of this idea and suggested he use it as his platform when he runs for President. That’s when she realized Jared’s facetious anti-obesity campaign was a perfect analogy to express her understanding of Satan’s plan, which thus far seemed to only make sense in the context of her own brain.
Obesity is defined as an abnormally high, unhealthy amount of body fat, and is usually indicated as having a Body Mass Index in excess of 30. Clearly, increasing the accepted BMI level to 45 will not improve anyone’s health. It will not “force” people to exercise, make better food choices, or take more responsibility for their physical wellness. It will, however, keep more people from being obese by definition.
Satan told the Lord, “I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it.” Growing up, I’ve been taught that for Satan to accomplish his mission, his plan was to use “force” to take away our agency. But I have not yet found canonical evidence supporting that interpretation.
What makes sense to me is that Satan’s attempt to keep us from being lost was like Jared’s attempt to keep us from being overweight: redemption through lower standards. The existence of agency means that there is both a law given and the freedom to follow the law. Under Satan’s plan as I understand it, he would remove the law, thereby destroying our ability to obey it (agency). His elimination of our agency would not be accomplished by forcing us to make correct decisions, but by removing any element of “correctness” or “incorrectness” from our actions.
Lehi teaches Jacob that without opposition (right and wrong being opposing forces), “righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.”
“…And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God.”
God’s plan for us–the Plan of Happiness–allows for happiness and righteousness just as it allows for punishment and misery. There cannot be the opportunity for righteousness without the opportunity for sin, so “forced righteousness” is itself a contradiction of terms. Of course, Satan’s plan to redeem us by taking away our chance to either succeed or fail would not have “worked;” we would never have grown to become more like God. It would be a false victory if it could even have been considered a victory at all. Much like changing the definition of obesity to keep fewer people from falling into the category.
